How YWCA Banff Supports Tourism: Interview with Reave MacLeod, Director of Programs & Impact
Over 90 per cent of jobs in Banff are connected to the tourism industry. Across the Bow Valley, restaurant servers, hiking guides, and ski resort lifties are among the community members YWCA Banff serves every day. The Y’s programs and services have a profound impact on the people who help sustain this region’s thriving tourism economy.
To learn more about how YWCA Banff’s work directly impacts tourism, we interviewed Reave MacLeod, Director of Programs & Impact at YWCA Banff.
Reave, let’s start with this: how does the Y support the tourism sector in the Bow Valley?
It’s a great question. Of the 4,200 individuals YWCA Banff served in 2023, we estimate that roughly 3,800 worked in tourism and hospitality. That trend has continued in the years since. There is a clear link between this sector and the people we serve.
The Bow Valley is a unique community because housing is often tied to employment. That means people’s social circles and support networks are connected to their jobs too. We contribute to the tourism industry by offering the crucial support people need when they experience violence or trauma at home or at work—this could be through our counselling programs, emergency shelter or homelessness program.
Does the Y work with tourism employers?
Absolutely. That’s another major way we work in tourism. It can be challenging for employers when a survivor of violence or trauma comes forward to share a negative experience in the workplace. They’re unsure about what to do, including how to support their team member. At the Y, we feel really confident helping employers support survivors of violence. We offer resources, programs, and services they can share with the employee.
How does the Y contribute to workplace culture?
YWCA Banff is a co-creator of the Bow Valley Workplace Inclusion Charter, a program to help companies commit to actionable steps to become more diverse and inclusive. We also teach local businesses and their staff about how to be an upstander against violence in hospitality and tourism. This includes empowering employers, managers, and staff to recognize the actions in workplace culture that lead to violence. For example, a sexist joke being interrupted can prevent sexual harassment down the road.
Another service we offer is a workplace policy review. We review tourism employers’ sexual harassment policies and make recommendations using a trauma-informed view and our latest knowledge of Alberta legislation. Lately we’re being more intentional about this work—learning about best practices, doing the research and going back to employers to say, we need more than “one-off” sessions to change workplace culture.
Can you talk about the new Wim Pauw Centre for Hospitality and Tourism at the Y?
This is a project we’re so excited about. YWCA Banff is transforming our former social enterprise hotel into classrooms and staff accommodation for the new Wim Pauw Centre for Hospitality and Tourism, opening in 2028. It’s a project in partnership with the Southern Alberta Institute for Technology (SAIT) with funding from the Wim & Nancy Pauw Foundation.
We’ll have the opportunity to work with SAIT students and offer training on sexual violence prevention. We’re discussing how prevention could be integrated into curriculum, for example, students could plan activities for the Y’s Sexual Violence Awareness Month. Through this collaboration, we will have a meaningful chance to shape the future leaders of hospitality and tourism in and beyond the Bow Valley and how they influence workplace settings throughout their careers. Hosting the new centre will also provide us the financial sustainability to continue offering violence prevention programs.